Insurance Claim Advice, Totaled Monaco

[Gulie]

We got hit with a tornado which picked up the 40’ Windsor and dropped it on top of a jeep. Needless to say my passion was totaled. We have State Farm for comprehensive and when posting the claim, they seem uninformed regarding this class of vehicle. While it was a 1999 model, 50K miles with rebuilt suspension, all led lighting, HD TVs, Security Cameras, Smart Home Network and so much more I can not list. It was almost like new, as it was garaged its entire life. My question is to see if any of you out there have any experience or advice for someone who has never had a claim manage the claim process. Any advice is appreciated.

[2cyber71]

Oh no, I’m so very sorry

[okcnewbie]

What a bummer. Hopefully you manage to get enough to find another MH that you love.

You bring up a great point and unfortunately it's not hard to believe the insurance company's aren't keeping up with the market value.
In our case we have our older Monaco insured for a particular value. Thinking about it I might need to up the value by 10k.

[D Gardiner]

Originally Posted by Gulie

We got hit with a tornado which picked up the 40’ Windsor and dropped it on top of a jeep. Needless to say my passion was totaled. We have State Farm for comprehensive and when posting the claim, they seem uninformed regarding this class of vehicle. While it was a 1999 model, 50K miles with rebuilt suspension, all led lighting, HD TVs, Security Cameras, Smart Home Network and so much more I can not list. It was almost like new, as it was garaged its entire life. My question is to see if any of you out there have any experience or advice for someone who has never had a claim manage the claim process. Any advice is appreciated.

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Oh, I'm so sorry to see these pictures. That was one beautiful class-a.

[153stars]

Was it insured for agreed value. I'm sure that phrase may set off huge debate. I'm sorry for your loss.

[arcaguy]

I have never had someone manage an insurance claim for me but I have fought with an insurance company for about 6 months over a claim and won. Short version my car was attacked by a deer on my way to work on morning in a snow storm. It wrinkled one fender, maybe the hood and took out a headlight. I replaced the headlight that day so I could be legal and got an estimate for the bodywork with OEM parts. The adjuster would not approve OEM parts only LKQ parts. For those that don't know LKQ stand for Like Kind and Quality which in general couldn't be further from the truth. I wrote and I complained until I got fed up and wrote to the president of the company. A week or two later I got a call from a guy at the insurance company that told me if that if my body shop man didn't say that LKQ parts were as good as OEM parts that he would OK putting OEM parts on the car. I got the OEM parts on the car. The moral of the story is stick to your guns and don't let the insurance company wear you down, as that is what they are trying to do. If you still have the coach, don't let the insurance company or anyone else have it until they pay you, it's still your coach and potential evidence in a law suit. Hopefully you're not paying storage on it. Good luck.

[Latech]

Sad to see the damage..WOW poor thing looks dead on its side
Glad you were not in it.

Nothing to offer about insurance, but glad you are OK

[Biljol]

The first thing you need to do is find all the records for all the upgrades you did that will raise the value.

Also you need to start shopping for a similar unit and get the costs on them hopefully something in the same year make model or close.

This will be good information for you to have on your side when dealing with the adjuster. If you find your getting nowhere you may need to get an independent adjuster.

You also may have a fight on your hands as the homeowners and auto fight on the responsibility of the damage. Most likely the homeowners will not cover because it has a motor so then it’s an auto claim but they will not want to cover because it was at your home when it happened. Try to find the policy and read them very carefully.

A buddy had an issue that his car started a fire that burnt down his house and the homeowners flat out refused to pay. His auto policy did not have the limits to rebuild the house so I think he ended up claiming on his umbrella policy.

[FrogHollow]

Get all of your reciepts together for the upgrades you did. Then put together a list of comparible RV's for sale, you will need that to establish value. That will be the tough part, you had an exceptional coach, a 99 that has been garaged with 50K is rare.
Best of luck, stick to your guns.
By the way I saw a picture of the Jeep it landed on on another forum. Small world I guess.

[George Schweikle]

Is your coach legally totaled?. This usually means the repair cost is over 75% of it's value and is in most states insurance regulations. Assuming you can document the many upgrades, and establish a replacement value for a coach in similar condition, your repair cost just might be under the 75% amount, especially with the current high cost of motorhomes.

Also, if you are having difficulty with your insurance company, the next step is to contact the office of your state insurance commissioner. Any communication from their office is assured to get the attention of an insurance company.

[wildtoad]

A lot depends on what type coverage you have, but valuing a 22 year old mh can be tough even with the upgrades. I would talk to your agent as to what is covered and which policy. It’s a good idea to document what upgrades have been made, how much, and when. Good luck. As you may know what your year/brand/model is selling for now is not its value.

[RightUR]

Wow, what a beautiful coach. So sorry for your loss.
What makes you say they seem uninformed? Did they offer you below NADA value? From the little research I conducted, It seems the ins. Co will offer between 30k and 42K. Even on RV trader, in a seller's market, the going price seems to be close to 49K
Usually the Claims adjuster comes out snaps some pics, goes to the office and provides an initial estimate. you then find the Repair shop. If it's already at a repair shop, you can let the repair shop handle almost everything with the Insurance company, or you can keep in contact with the case worker at the insurance company so you stay in the loop.
But in your case it seems that through the pics the Adjuster and Ins company have deemed this a total loss. So the next step should be the payout. Did you manage to take out of the rig what you'd like to salvage?
Again, I'm so sorry about all this.

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by Gulie

We got hit with a tornado which picked up the 40’ Windsor and dropped it on top of a jeep. Needless to say my passion was totaled. We have State Farm for comprehensive and when posting the claim, they seem uninformed regarding this class of vehicle. While it was a 1999 model, 50K miles with rebuilt suspension, all led lighting, HD TVs, Security Cameras, Smart Home Network and so much more I can not list. It was almost like new, as it was garaged its entire life. My question is to see if any of you out there have any experience or advice for someone who has never had a claim manage the claim process. Any advice is appreciated.

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I’ll say you will get book value unless you have a stated amount of it gets totaled.

[clifford j]

The NADA value is the base line, then add in the condition level "excellent" , Fair, poor for upping the value ,,, the insurance won't offer much after that,
led lights, etc wont get you a bunch more value. Remove the portable items, the insurance won't allow much for 'used' items, they're worth more for you.
If you just purchased new tires couple hundred miles ago they might up their offer. Sad thing is they'll beat you up.

CLIFFORD